Streetwear label hopes to re-brand crisis-hit town

Sick of his hometown being the butt of jokes, Nigel (right), created streetwear label San Portablo

You’ll have heard of San Francisco, San Antonio and San Jose - but have you heard of the seaside town of San Portablo?

Sick of his hometown being the butt of jokes, a former Port Talbot steelworker created a streetwear label, giving the much-maligned town a re-brand.

“We get such a bad rep, you know Port Toilet, Port Tablet, all the jokes,” said Nigel Hunt.

Port Talbot faces an uncertain future with Tata Steel announcing it will close both the town’s blast furnaces this year with the loss of 1,929 jobs.

Port Talbot's steel industry has gained the town a reputation of being polluted

Port Talbot's fortunes have always been firmly linked with the steel industry.

At its 1960s peak, the works employed almost 20,000 people and was fondly known to locals as "treasure island" with the workers' good wages allowing the town to thrive.

Nigel does not want to see the steelworks close but believes the town is resilient.

“Some people who work there think this is the end of the world, Armageddon, but there are many who don’t work there and don’t share that belief,” said Nigel.

He thinks the town can reinvent itself.

“Port Talbot has a lot of qualities, it’s coastal, it’s on the mainline, there’s a big port, there’s a nice beach, great mountains, a good community and a good skills base," he said.

“I don’t think we’ll be as decimated as what people make out.”

In 2016, after losing his job at the steelworks, Nigel decided to create a label that tapped into the fondness he and others have for Port Talbot.

Wales had just qualified for Euro 2016 in France and he began by selling T-shirts on the streets of Bordeaux.

Then in 2018, Banksy created another opportunity when his artwork Season's greetings appeared on a garage in the town.

All the designs, created by local artists and modelled by people from the town, have one thing in common - a celebration of Port Talbot.

“I love living in an industrial town, I’m used to the sounds, the smells, the noise, the light… it is home to me,” said Nigel.

The works loom large in his childhood memories and he added: "As a kid, camping out in the ‘80s with those blast furnaces it was like we didn’t need to go and see the Northern Lights, the light in the night was extraordinary and the sound of it like a constant backdrop.”

Actor Michael Sheen (centre) who is from the town is one of the well-known faces who likes to visit the label's shop

It seems others in the town feel the same.

The label’s social media pages are full of large groups on holiday all wearing San Portablo T-shirts and hoodies.

Famous faces from the area, such as actor Michael Sheen and former Wales international Richard Hibbard, like to pop into the shop in Aberafan Shopping Centre to show their support.

Swansea band Trampolene, who are set to headline the town’s In It Together Festival, are regularly seen wearing the label.

For the past six years the shop has had another celebrity working behind the counter - Michael Locke, better known as stuntman and skateboarder Pancho from MTV's Dirty Sanchez.

Michael, Nigel’s long-term friend and business partner who also grew up in the town, moved home from Bristol in 2018.

“I was cycling along [Aberavon] beach as the sun was going down and I thought ‘right, I’m going back to Wales, I’m moving back to Port Talbot',” he said.

Michael Locke, better known as stuntman and skateboarder Pancho from MTV Dirty Sanchez, is Nigel's business partner

Like Nigel, he also wants to defend and reclaim his town.

“We’re always having derogatory terms used against us - so we just flipped it,” he said.

“Locals got behind it massively because we’re proud of our town.”

It is not just people from the area getting behind the brand - on a Friday afternoon in April the shop had four visitors from Evesham in Worcestershire.

It was customer Dan Jackson’s fourth visit to the shop.

“I think it’s cool how they're trying to help the place out, with the steelworks and everything they’re trying to bring it up,” he said.

“The message behind it is trying to get Port Talbot on the map again.”

Nigel hopes the brand will bring hope to others in "small or unfashionable" towns

Nigel sees the label as part of a vibrant art scene in the town.

Port Talbot is famous for producing an array of acting greats, from Sir Anthony Hopkins to Richard Burton, but it also has a thriving street art and live music scene.

“I feel sometimes we’re becoming south Wales’ Camden,” he said.

“There’s a bit more independent spirit.”

He said the brand was not just for people in the town but also those further afield.

“We as a small brand will give hope to anyone who’s in a small or unfashionable town that’s not celebrated,” he said.

“You don’t have to go and live in a metropolis.”